Though she is made for me, she still needed to be handled with tenderness. I would never let anything come to harm her. I turned to leave and started walking toward the kitchen.
“Hate to see you go, but I love to watch you leave,” she called weakly from the pile of sheets.
When I returned a few minutes later, she was dressed in a many layers. “You stay over there.”
I reached out to hand her a glass of water across the bed. “That’s close enough mister. And don’t look at me like that. No more being cute until I get some answers.”
I drank the glass of water I brought for myself in three gulps before wiping my mouth on the back of my hand. When I looked back at Anna, her gaze was hazy as when she was ready to go again. She shook her head and blinked.
“Put some clothes on or we aren’t ever going to get anywhere.” She pointed to a stack of fresh clothes on the chair.
I smiled at her but did as commanded. “As much as it pains my soul and body to be separated from you, you are right. I must hurry. My family is in danger.”
“Your family?”
“My memories have returned.”
“What do you remember?” She sat on the edge of the bed, her face lined with concern as she watched me get dressed.
“Anna. There is much I need to explain, but not a lot of time.” I knelt before her, grasping her hands. “I am going to say things that you are not going to find believable, but I am asking that you trust me.”
“Well, seeing that we just sixty-nined on my ceiling, consider my mind wide open.”
“I came to this planet in search of my brother and sister.”
Her brows raised ever so slightly. “To this planet?”
“Yes. I’m from— Well, it’s very far away. I have been searching a long time. So long that the window to return is almost closed.”
“Mm hmm.” Her eyes were wide but she only nodded, mouth shut tight.
“My brother left a long time ago in search of a mate and went missing. When he did not return, my sister went in search of him. I was not able to join her because of obligations on my home planet. But when she sent a distress message, I came to find them both. I am here to bring them home.”
“Home?” She looked at me sadly.
I squeezed her hands. “We are the last of our kind.” I frowned and looked away. “For many reasons, we have been hunted to the brink of extinction.”
She brushed my cheek. “I’m so sorry.”
“My brother and I are in our season. That means that we must mate before we die. It’s why our connection was so palpable.”
Anna frowned. Something I’d said upset her. “So what we felt . . . you would have had that with anyone? I just happened to be the literal first woman you came upon?”
I dropped my head to her hands in mine before looking up at her. “No, my sweet Anna. What we have is astounding. I should not be feeling this with a human. The Gravity I spoke of is reserved for those who can handle it. Humans are not able to. Their minds and bodies are not capable.” When she frowned I added, “Sorry.”
“I would be mad but five minutes on TikTok only proves your point.” She shook her head. “But that doesn’t make any sense. None of this does, right? Since I’m just a human. Born in the good ol’ U S of A.”
“Time and space as you know them are nothing but simple terms for more complex constructs the human mind is not yet able to comprehend. But the truth remains that I was meant for you and only you. We were meant for each other; the stars brought us together. The chance of us meeting is a wonderful miracle. Even more so with the incredible odds. But you are not the only one with questions.” I finished getting dressed. “We must find the llama.”
Her eyebrow quirked. She tossed her hands out to the side. “You know what? Sure. You are from another planet and my llama is the key. My bones are Jell-O from the numerous orgasms you just gave me. You could tell me just about anything at this point and I’d bite. Let’s go find Marv.”
I stepped forward and embraced her. “You are amazing and I love you.”
“I love you too.” She shook her head in disbelief.
15
Anna
“Let me just freshen up and I’ll be right out,” I said, squeezing Sam’s hand.
He lowered his mouth and kissed me deeply. When he pulled back his eyes were as bright as stars. He looked at me in a way that nobody ever had, like I really was the most precious thing in the entire universe. It caused an ache in my chest. My face must have betrayed the sudden wave of sadness because he looked closely at me.
“What is it?”
I slapped on a smile. “Nothing. Just slap-happy. Go on.” I smacked his booty and ushered him out of the room.
In the bathroom, I closed my eyes and leaned against the door.
The last of his kind . . .
Not with humans . . .
This should all feel insane. None of it should be believable. I should be questioning everything and yet the overwhelming emotion tightening my throat was heart-aching sadness, not disbelief. He had to leave. He had to populate his kind. And it couldn’t be with me.
“This is your fault,” I said to my reflection. Tears shone in my eyes. “You fell too hard and fast.” I swore at myself.
Somehow, I’d had no choice. Everything I felt was like it was meant to be. I’d never even thought I believed in that sort of thing. But we had literally found each other across the universe. An ache so real in my chest caused me to gasp out in pain.
Could I let him go now? He told me we were mated. We felt closer than any marriage license could ever bring us. But could I be responsible for the end of his family line? His brother and sister were missing he was running out of time . . .
But.
I couldn’t let him go. I physically couldn’t. I knew it to be as true as anything. He said that we would die if we parted and I believed that deep in my soul. Whatever came next, I would be there with him. I would help him with whatever he needed to do.
We were one now.
I took a deep breath and nodded at my reflection. “You got this.”
Regardless of whatever came next, Sam and I would handle it together. I went to tell him just that. When I found Sam again, he was naked and staring at the Christmas tree.
“Good gravy man, why is it so hard for you to keep clothes on?” I stepped forward but stopped instantly when his head turned toward me sharply. My heart sunk to my stomach.
That was not Sam. It looked exactly like him. I mean exactly, and I was intimately familiar with my partner now. But I could feel that it wasn’t him. Where was my Sam? What was going on? Could this night possibly get any weirder?
I should have known that the answer to that was always a resounding yes.
I stepped back toward the fireplace and grabbed the poker. “Who are you? Where is Sam?”
“Sam?” The stranger’s head tilted. He turned to face me fully. I kept my eyes firmly locked on his face. He may look like my Sam but I still felt weird about checking out his goods.
The longer I looked, the more I realized this was definitely not my Sam. Actually, his features seemed to almost shift as I watched. He was equally as handsome, but the shape of his eyes had a slightly different angle to it. The way his hair flopped was almost a mirror image of Sam.